Lockout (2012)

Set in the year 2079, Lockout follows the story of Snow (Guy Pearce), a cocky government agent, who’s about to do time for a crime he didn’t commit. Snow is blamed for the murder of a high profiled Colonel, and rescuing the President’s daughter from a hostile prison takeover could be his only shot at freedom. Emilie Warnock’s (Maggie Grace) goodwill mission at MS: One (the floating maximum security prison in outer space) was suppose to be a simple task, but when Hydell (one of the more psychotic prisoners on MS: One) steals a gun, things take a drastic turn for the worst. The prisoners are now in control of MS: One, Emilie is being used as hostage bait, and Snow must save the President’s daughter, if he wants to avoid a thirty year prison sentence.

Guy Pearce is the major highlight of this film. The most entertaining scenes involve his character, and everything does feel pretty bland and ordinary, when he’s not around. Pearce had the perfect look for an action hero, and he was very comfortable with his character throughout this film. Snow was an asshole, but he could still be a very likable character. Snow was smooth. He could fight, when the situation called for it, but Snow also had a sense of humor, and he does provide the bulk of the laughs here. Pearce brought so much charisma to this character, and his performance was just excellent.

I want to like Maggie Grace. I really do, but she hasn’t shown me anything special, since Lost ended. I’ll always see Shannon, when I look at her, because her performances in the movie world haven’t done anything for me. Grace just seems like an average actress, but she will continue to receive roles in Hollywood. She is a gorgeous woman, and she can always play the piece of eye candy, who may have some depth in her character. As far as Lockout goes, she was okay here. As usual, Grace didn’t blow me away with her performance, but she was decent enough. Grace barely did enough to convince me, but she was believable, as the innocent woman, who was trying to do the right thing, but eventually finds herself stuck in a deadly situation, with no possible escape.

Also, the Hydell character was kind of annoying. Yeah, I get it. He’s supposed to be a bloodthirsty lunatic, who can’t control his urges for killing, but Joseph Gilgun’s performance was so over the top. This character’s disfigured look didn’t feel intimidating, because Gilgun delivered too many unintentional funny moments. It felt like he was trying too hard, but Alex (Hydell’s brother) was a lot more tolerable. Alex (Vincent Regan) was the leader of the prison revolt, and he could control his temper. Alex was a smart antagonist. He wanted to come up with a strategy for the takeover, and Regan was convincing, because he really did look like the leader for the gang of prisoners. I just wish I could’ve seen more of Regan, and less of Gilgun.

Lockout could’ve been so much better, but unfortunately, they just settled for your typical Hollywood style sci-fi/thriller. The special effects look great, Stephen St. Leger and James Mather did a fine job with directing, and they were able to provide some excitement for Lockout. But the screenplay feels so formulaic and predictable. You can see everything coming from a mile away, and the obvious twists and turns were very disappointing. Still, Lockout can be an entertaining film. It’s an enjoyable sci-fi/thriller, the action sequences are fun to watch, and Lockout is loaded with some very impressive visuals.

Final Rating: 6/10